Thinking out-of-the-box inspired these four costumes, all made with a cardboard box as their base
Photography by Dani Diamond
General notes
Each of these costumes use a box that fits the child wearing it. You can easily make a box smaller or a different shape by cutting and regluing the box to the right size.
A full-size glue gun will be significantly more efficient than a mini one.
Make sure the blade of your box cutter (utility knife) is very sharp for clean and easy cuts.
Duct tape looks very obvious once the box is spray painted. If using duct tape, try to do it from the inside of the box.
Takes the Cake
With just some simple steps, this strawberry short cake costume’s a piece of cake to make.
What you need:
Cardboard box
Box cutter/utility gun
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Scissors
1-1.25” foam mattress topper or poly foam (long enough to wrap around the two longer sides of your box)
Quilt batting, approx. 2-3 yards, depending on the size of your box
1) Choose a cardboard box that is wider than your child by about 8–10” on the right and left, and significantly longer than them in length.
2) Using a box cutter/utility knife, cut off the four bottom flaps.
3) Cut one of the shorter panels off completely and discard.
4) Glue or duct tape the two open ends together to form the front point of your cake.
5) The top flaps should be cut into a triangle shape and glued down.
6) Cut a rectangular hole in the top flaps about 2” from the back of the slice of cake for your child to slip into. Reglue the top flaps down if necessary.
7) Using your box as a guide for size, cut your foam into a long rectangle that is the size of the longer sides of the box. (It should be one piece that will wrap around the front point of the cake.)
8) Glue the foam to the box.
9) Cut a strip of batting 6–10” longer (depending on the size of your box) than the length of both the longer sides of your box. Again, it should be one piece that will wrap around the front point of the cake.
10) Glue the strip of batting along the center of the foam as the cream between the two layers of cake.
11)Cut and glue the printouts of strawberries at various angles and intervals within the strip of batting.
12) Cover the top and back panels of the cake with batting. I found that one layer of the batting I was using was a bit thin, so I used a double layer of batting.
13) Cut six strips of batting that are 4” wider than the back of your box, and are about 10” high.
14) Twist two strips of batting together, and glue them along the top, middle, and bottom of the back of your box. Add faux strawberries along the top and bottom twists.
15) Add another two strawberries on top toward the front point of your cake.
16) Add ribbon or strips of batting as straps to hold the slice of cake on your child’s shoulders, gluing them from the inside of the rectangular hole in the top of the cake. (Crossing the ribbon or batting in an x-shape will keep the straps from slipping off your child’s shoulders.)
17) For the strawberry hat, cut and glue green felt leaves and a stem to the red beanie and draw seeds using yellow puff paint.
Whether you’re a DIY-er or not, the key points to recognize are that creating a little oasis of play space doesn’t require excessive square footage or a wild imagination.
